May
Seersucker suit roundup
Memorial Day marks the beginning of two well-known sartorial traditions: wearing white and wearing seersucker. While many would say to disregard using the days of the calendar to decide what you should wear and when, you can’t really disregard the common sense (or appeal) of wearing seersucker during the warm and sunny months.
I won’t try to convince you that owning a seersucker suit is a staple in your wardrobe, because odds are fairly good you won’t have too many occassions to wear it. I will say, however, it’s pretty easy to split up the suit and wear the items separately. And, best of all, there are a bunch of brands offering seersucker suits as separates, so you can just pick up a jacket, which I think is more versatile of the two.
You can pair the jacket with almost anything and it’s perfect for casual weekend days. I’ve worn a seersucker jacket with jeans, chinos of all colors and grey linen trousers. I find it’s a good jacket to have in your summer wardrobe.
Here’s a roundup of all the seersucker jackets I could find sold separately from their trousers. Many of them are still on sale today, so now might be the best time to get one until after the summer’s over.
+++
Brooks Brothers (Cambridge fit)
Brooks Brothers (Fitzgerald fit)
Brooks Brothers (Fitzgerald fit)
Brooks Brothers (Fitzgerald fit)
Apr
Picked up my summer suit. Howard Yount also now lets you not only get extra pairs of trousers (for $99), but you can also swap out trouser sizes on your order. So, this is great if you’re a drop 4 instead of a drop six (ie: you wear a 38R/34W instead of the 32W that typically comes with most ready-to-wear suits).
Apr
Howard Yount 2012 summer suiting — More info here.
Feb
Hey Silentist, I'm really impressed how many questions you answer. I was wondering if you could clarify a sartorial rule I've heard. Pinstripes are for business, but does that mean a striped suit wouldn't work anywhere else? I'm looking at a gray herringbone suit on eBay that has a light blue stripe. Would that be a viable general alternative to a standard charcoal gray suit?
When I think “business pinstripe”, I tend to think of a dark charcoal or navy suit with a bold white pinstripe. For a grey suit with a light blue stripe, you could probably wear that elsewhere. Maybe a daytime wedding or church, for instance. The colors aren’t as high-contrast as navy or charcoal with white.
Jan
Hey Kyoshi, Do you mess with button-down shirts when wearing a suit? Cheers!
Generally speaking, no. When I wear a suit, it’s usually because the situation requires a certain amount of formality (business, something at a church, etc.) and I go with a standard spread collar (blue for the daytime and business, white for formal and evening).
Now, that’s mainly just for my worsted wool suits. When it comes to casual and seasonal fabrics, I think that perhaps allows you to go with a button-down collar. I could see someone wearing a bowtie with a seersucker suit and button-down collar. I could see someone wearing a OCBD with a donegal tweed suit and a v-neck sweater layered under the jacket.
Dec
in your opinion, whats the least a suit jacket should cover of your rear end? would you just return a suit if the bottom of ur cheeks were peeking out a little?
If your cheeks are peeking out, then you should put on pants.
In all seriousness though, it’s a personal preference. What are you comfortable with?
Alan Flusser’s recommendation is that you take the total height from the top of your jacket’s collar to the floor, and your jacket’s hem should hit the middle of that length.
Dec
It just occurred to me that this 40% off + free shipping sale at Lands’ End is a good opportunity for someone on a shoestring budget to pick up a first basic suit.
If you’re, say, a graduating college senior looking to start a job search in the next six months, you probably won’t find a better deal for under $120.
I was going to post something similar, but Aliotsy beat me to it. If you don’t have a suit yet and are on the Ramen Noodle Budget*, then here’s a place to get started.
(* Yes, the Ramen Noodle Budget piece is forthcoming. My plan is to bang it out tonight and tomorrow and have it up sometime next week.)
Dec
could you recommend any nice winter suits that i can add to my closet? currently dont have any, and my only two suits are navy and gray. thanks!
For wearing around the office, I’d say a good flannel suit is worth looking into. The grey flannel suit is somewhat of a long-time staple piece of a man’s wardrobe before modern HVAC systems were introduced to most workplaces.
For a more casual alternative, I think a tweed suit might be worth tracking down. The instances when you can wear a full-on tweed suit though might be sort of rare. I wouldn’t consider it office attire, given that tweed’s origins were meant for it to be worn in the countryside, not the city.
Still, I like tweed suits because you can break them up and wear the jacket and trousers separately with other elements of your wardrobe, which is what I do quite often. I was lucky to find two of mine at thrift stores (both donegal tweed).
As for where to buy new, that really depends on your budget. Be warned though that finding either types of suiting isn’t going to be something you can find on the cheap. Lands’ End has a flannel suit that’s gotten some mixed reviews in terms of the quality of the flannel used. The only tweed suit I’ve seen from memory would be from either J.Crew or GANT by Michael Bastian.
Dec
Hey Silentist, nice blog! That charcoal Lands End suit - how's the quality? looks nice enough, how is it 'in person'? I've bought their shirts and ties and love that they have the 'tailored' fit, but have wondered about their suits Thx! John
In all seriousness, buy one and see for yourself. They have a bullet-proof return policy.
I liked mine (both of ‘em) enough for the price to keep them and get them altered. Are they the nicest suits you’ll own and can buy? Nope. But for ~$200-250, they certainly are in my book. A lot better than the similarly (or higher) priced stuff from Topman, Zara, H&M, etc. Just my opinion though.
Dec
I have the same LE suit that you wore in your 11-30 picture. Mine seems much baggier so I assume you got both the jacket and slacks taken in? I need to find a tailor to do the same alterations, if so. Also, did you shorten the jacket at all because mine seems much longer?
Yup, definitely had my tailor do some work on it. The side have been taken in on the jacket, the trousers have had the seat and waist taken in and the legs tapered to a 7.5” leg opening.
I didn’t shorten the jacket, but I am 5’11”-ish and am wearing a regular. Maybe that’s the reason?
Oct
So I was reading through old posts and I read that you're a 38 long. I thought I was the only one! I rarely find jackets in this size, but you seem to have a ton. I know you thrift a lot, but when you buy new, where do you go for your size? It doesn't seem like any major brands carry 38L.
You’d be correct that it’s nearly impossible to find 38L off the rack. I think Tommy Hilfiger and Haspel have that size, but it’s pretty rare. Most brands have 38R and 38S.
Most of the time I go with a 38R and then let out the sleeves if possible. Also, I tend to show more cuff than the average person, so I can live with a shorter sleeve length.
Oct
HELP I just bought the j crew ludlow suit in charcoal, can I wear OCBD shirt with knit tie, also need recommendation on shoes to go along with for a wedding tomorrow, please help...
I’d recommend plain black captoes (like the Allen Edmonds Park Avenues), but you could also probably go with burgundy or brown captoes. Less formal would be brogues and wingtips. Tough to really give a concrete answer without knowing your budget or if you live in a location where you can snatch something up quickly.
Whatever you do, avoid wearing loafers with a suit.
ADDING from Anon:
“White OCBD with knit tie go well with the JCrew Ludlow suit?”
Some people don’t like button-down collars with suits, but it works if it’s casual.
Sep
I'm a student (on a budget around $300) looking to play dress up for a job fair. Is Jos. A. Bank any good?
I can’t recommend Jos. A. Bank to you. For that kind of cash, you should just order a suit from Lands’ End (jacket, trousers) in your size and then take the suit to a tailor to make it fit perfectly.
Plus, you can use coupon code SAVEBIG with PIN 1234 to get 30% off the highest priced item in your cart. That’ll put the price of the entire suit at $198.15 and leave you with $100 extra to do some alterations.
Sep
My favorite look from the Michael Bastian S/S 2012 collection.
That suit looks fantastic and you could easily break it apart to wear the jacket and trousers separately.
Aug
You can only afford to buy one suit, which color is most acceptable at weddings and funerals; black, navy or charcoal?
I would go with the navy or charcoal, especially dark charcoal. I’ve worn a navy suit with a black tie to a wake before. Maybe it’s a newer thing, but the immediate family of the recently passed didn’t wear black — on purpose. For them, they didn’t need to feel even more grim is what one of them told me. So, I think navy or dark charcoal would work for funerals. Traditional? No, but it still can convey a respectful tone.
Wearing black is such a powerful statement of formality and (sometimes) somberness, yet can also be interpreted as fashionable. I don’t think a black suit is very “conservative” in comparison to navy or dark charcoal. It’s a strong statement.
About
A Chicagoan working on developing his personal style
E-mail me, I'm fairly nice: thesilentist@gmail.com
Popular topics:
- Best of The Silentist
- Product Reviews
- What I Wore Today Archives
- Personal Style
- Basics of Style
- Business Casual Style
- What to Wear for Your Internship
- Wedding Attire
- Ramen Noodle Budget
